With a week-long vacation from school ahead of them, many parents find themselves looking for fun things to do with their children.

The Cayuga Lake Junior Grange, located in Union Springs, NY, offered a not only fun but educational solution Saturday with its annual Reading Rally at the Springport Free Library in Union Springs.

The group, which meets every other Saturday at the AJ Smith Elementary School in Union Springs, spent the day working on a mapping project of states and their cities along highway 40.

“Each person researches and puts together information about the city they choose,” said Grange leader Meta Riester. “They gather information using books, the computer or talking to people.”

The final product will be submitted to a contest hosted by the National Grange.

“Last year several of our projects were winners and were displayed in the National Grange Museum in North Carolina,” she said.

“The states that we are working on this year include North Carolina, Oklahoma and Arkansas.”

Although the majority of attendees were members of the group and their families, Riester said that the event is open to the public.

“Anyone who wants to join us is more than welcome to come,” she said. “I know that many schools have reward programs for students who read during their vacation and the Reading Rally is credit toward their goal.”

After an afternoon of fun and laughter learning about various states, their cities and the importance of them, the group ended their time together with a hot-dog lunch.

The Cayuga Junior Grange is a community service oriented coed group of students from all over the county. In addition to their bimonthly meetings the group holds fundraisers to give donations to the library and the Cayuga County Literacy Volunteers.

The next event for the group will be a flapjack fundraiser on March 12 at Applebees in Auburn.

Proceeds from the event will be used for various group projects that include their annual donations. For more information, contact Meta Riester at 283-1662.